Madame Tussauds has turned its attention to Whitney Houston, remembering the legendary singer who died last year with not one, but four separate wax figures. “We were extremely honored when Madame Tussauds approached us about doing four figures of Whitney from different points in her 30-year career,” Houston’s manager and sister-in-law Pat Houston said in a statement on behalf of the family. “This is something we are excited to do for the fans.”
The unveiling marks the first time in 200 years that the museum has simultaneously created so many different figures of the same subject. While each took shape at the Tussauds studio in London, they will be displayed in separate cities.
Posts tagged as “music”
Nesta Robert Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981), more widely and commonly known as Bob Marley, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands The Wailers (1963-1974) and Bob Marley & The Wailers (1974–1981). Marley remains the most widely-known performer of reggae music, and is credited with helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience.
Marley’s music was greatly influenced by the social issues of his homeland, and he gave voice to the political and cultural nexus of Jamaica as well other oppressive, racist societies throughout the world. His best-known hits include “I Shot the Sheriff“, “No Woman, No Cry“, “Could You Be Loved“, “Stir It Up“, “Get Up Stand Up“, “Jamming“, “Redemption Song“, “One Love” and “Three Little Birds“, as well as the posthumous releases “Buffalo Soldier” and “Iron Lion Zion.” The compilation album Legend (1984), released three years after his death, is reggae’s best-selling album, going ten times Platinum which is also known as one Diamond in the U.S., and selling 25 million copies worldwide. To learn more about his life and music, click here, and watch “Could You Be Loved” below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qo42heoLUs&w=420&h=315]
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
A flamboyant showman and guitar picker in the style of T-Bone Walker, Johnny “Guitar” Watson was born John Watson, Jr. in Houston, Texas on February 3, 1935. Watson recorded throughout the 1950s and 1960s with some success. His creative reinvention in the 1970s with disco and funk overtones, saw Watson have hits with “Ain’t That a Bitch”, “I Need It” and “Superman Lover.” His successful recording career spanned forty years, with his biggest hit being 1977’s “A Real Mother For Ya”. Watson was known for his virtuosic guitar playing and inspired musicians ranging from Bobby Womack to Frank Zappa.
To learn more about his life and music, click here, and enjoy “A Real Mother For Ya” below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jr0qPqK3vw&w=420&h=315]
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, commemorates the life and music of Nina Simone on the occasion of the singer’s 80th birthday and celebrates the iconic High Priestess of Soul as the label’s Artist of the Month for February 2013.
Nina Simone, who would’ve turned 80 on February 21, was a strong and vocal civil rights advocate who carried the message of universal rights and personal empowerment, freedom, equality and dignity throughout her career. Whether it was political or emotional or personal, she never failed to tell the truth through her music.
One of the most powerful and uncompromising artists of the 20th century, Nina Simone was a natural talent who developed into a virtuosic performer–an ineffable song stylist with concert hall piano skills and a transcendental on-stage presence. Singer, songwriter, arranger, and pianist, Nina wove classical, blues, jazz, pop, rock, R&B, folk, gospel, torch songs and world music into a body of work as eclectic as it is incomparable.
Broadway star and film actress Etta Moten Barnett sang at the birthday party for President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Jan. 31, 1943, becoming the first African-American to perform at the White House.
She performed “Remember My Forgotten Man,” which she also sang in the movie Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), although she was not listed in the credits. A conaltro vocalist, she was best known for her starring role in the 1942 revival of Porgy and Bess on Broadway.
Barnett was born November 5, 1901, in Weimar, Texas. She married Claude Barnett, founder of the Associated Negro Press, in 1934. In her later years, Barnett was active in many community organizations including the National Council of Negro Women, the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the African American Institute. She passed away from pancreatic cancer on January 5, 2004, at age 102.
article by Britt Middleton via bet.com
Barnett was born November 5, 1901, in Weimar, Texas. She married Claude Barnett, founder of the Associated Negro Press, in 1934. In her later years, Barnett was active in many community organizations including the National Council of Negro Women, the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the African American Institute. She passed away from pancreatic cancer on January 5, 2004, at age 102.
article by Britt Middleton via bet.com
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/57615262 w=400&h=300]
GBN may be a bit biased, but every time Prince puts out new music, we are compelled to define it as good news. What’s more, he has a new website, 20princ3.com, where you can view and get share codes of his latest videos and protégés. The New Yorker recently published an article entitled “Has Prince Made Peace With The Internet?”, which we certainly hope he has, and that more music videos from him, past and present, will be available for all to enjoy.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, CA on January 25, 1938, Etta James was an American singer whose style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as “Roll With Me, Henry“, “At Last“, “Tell Mama“, “Something’s Got a Hold on Me“, and “I’d Rather Go Blind” for which she wrote the lyrics. James is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and is the winner of six Grammys and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both 1999 and 2008. Rolling Stone ranked James number 22 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and number 62 on the list of the 100 Greatest Artists. To learn more about Etta James, click here, and watch her perform “Something’s Got A Hold On Me” below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ0ObhAYo4M
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
The Herb Alpert School of Music at the University of California at Los Angeles has announced that jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter have joined the faculty of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance. The institute is a two-year graduate program for jazz performing artists. There are currently seven students enrolled in the program. Hancock and Shorter will work with the seven students individually and as a group on composition, improvisation, and artistic expression.
Professor Hancock stated, “Wayne and I look forward to working with and guiding the new class of Monk Fellows. These exceptionally gifted young artists are destined to become some of the most influential jazz musicians of their generation. The mentoring experience will be profound for us, as well. The gift of inspiration in the classroom that develops from the master-apprentice relationship enhances our personal creativity on the bandstand and in the recording studio.”
article via jbhe.com
Frank Ocean ‘comes out’: The breakout R&B star made headlines with a small blog post in which he admitted is first love was a man. Amazingly, his admission mattered little to his fans, who helped turn his album ‘Channel Orange’ into one of the year’s biggest hits.
NEW YORK (AP) — The film “Cloud Atlas,” AMC’s reality show “Small Town Security” and the New Yorker magazine are among the nominees for the 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. The awards are meant to recognize and honor media for outstanding images of the gay and lesbian community.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced on Wednesday 120 nominees in English-language categories and 33 nominees in Spanish-language categories.
Other nominees include the NBC shows “Smash” and “The New Normal,” Frank Ocean for his “Channel Orange” album, the magazine People en Espanol and Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Neil Patrick Harris and partner David Burtka.
The winners will be announced March 16 in New York and at ceremonies in April and May in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com
(D.C. Department of General Services)
Washington DC city officials released renderings of the city’s recreational tribute to go-go godfather Chuck Brown — a $1 million steel-and-wood music pavilion on the grounds of Langdon Park in Northeast Washington. The bandshell faces outdoor seating built into an earthen berm and surrounded by magnolia trees and backed by a copse of evergreens. Beside it stands a “timeline tower” listing Brown’s most famous songs in chronological order.
The architects, Marshall Moya Design, said the pavilion “follow[s] the ancient design concepts that the Romans used to build open-air amphitheaters.” In any case, it’s a lot more impressive than the initial plans for Chuck Brown Park.
It will be an all-too-rare locally oriented memorial, Mayor Vincent C. Gray said Thursday. ”A lot of our monuments, which are iconic, are really a tribute to people who have national significance,” he said. “We have so many of those, and we just want to make sure we recognize that we have over 600,000 people in the city, many of whom made an important contribution to the city. … Chuck was one of those.”